Are you too scared to find a job? This isn’t Amway and you need to get active!

If you are looking for a job, you must pull out all the stops. Can you relate to any of these scenarios:

- Former colleagues don’t know you are looking for a job.

- You have a large following on LinkedIn or FaceBook that you haven’t networked with.

- You haven’t checked in with past employers to see if they might be interested in rehiring you or referring you to new opportunities.

- Your resume is not updated.

I could go on and on with examples but the bottom line is this - you can’t approach your job search like you are selling Amway or any other home based business. What do I mean by this? We’ve all been approached by the person who has put together a list of everyone they know; people who will be interested in their can’t miss business opportunity. In the beginning, this person is very excited to tell everyone about what they are doing but after a couple of negative conversations they begin to get deflated. This person starts to question themselves and becomes apprehensive about what they are doing. They no longer want to talk to anyone about their business because they’ve been beaten down.

Job searching in 2009 and beyond is not a sprint. Treat your job search like a marathon. Put another way, slow and steady wins the race. You have to do the basics including calling and emailing all of your past employers, clients, former colleagues, classmates, high school sweet-hearts, anybody and everybody because you don’t kow who is in a position to positively impact your search. And you know what, if you are still unemployed in a couple of months, call them again. Some might consider you a stalker. Some people will call you rude. If you need a job, this doesn’t matter. You have to pull out all of the stops because there is one things I know for certain — if they don’t know you are looking for a job they won’t call you with a job lead.

You make a very good point about not treating your job search like an 'Amway' pitch. In fact, I am in a position which I found through a friend. Admittedly, I didn't do a great job with how I managed my search, and had I followed your advice I might have succeeded more quickly. But alas, I did find a job. I know that I will remember your post, should I ever need such sage advice in the future.